The Wyoming Cowboy-Rebecca Winters

The Wyoming Cowboy

Rebecca Winters

Harlequin American, May 7 2013, $5.50

ISBN: 9780373754557

At Walter Reed, three wounded warrior marines (Lundgren, Buck and Ross) suffering from survivor guilt and respiratory problems caused by their Afghan deployment agree to convert Carson Lundgren’s spread into a dude ranch for the families of fallen servicemen and women. When the trio completes the renovation step, they begin to invite surviving family members of deceased comrades in arms.

In Sandusky, Ohio, Widow Tracy Baretta and her elementary school aged son Johnny accept an invitation to visit the renovated Wyoming ranch for a week where the mom hopes her son will heal somewhat over the loss of his father. Tracy and Carson are attracted to one another upon their first meeting while over the next few days Johnny worships the kind and patient ranch owner. As they fall in love near the Grand Tetons, both adults consider the future with the child’s needs most important.

Though the romance is a somewhat standard contemporary, the insight into the mental health of returning soldiers and surviving family members brings freshness to the warn storyline. The lead couple and the child seem real with each struggling to deal with varying degrees of PTSD as Rebecca Winters opens her Daddy Dude Ranch series with a tender family drama.